Sollia, Apr 2 2016

Here we go again…

Today’s trip across Blåtind and Haddalshornet didn’t seem to be enough for my restless soul, and after a meal back home I was preparing to go to Sollia – the highest point on Gurskøya island.

The only issue was that the rain was pouring down, while the weather forecast insisted that we had a nice and sunny day out here on the coastline. I decided to ignore reality and trust the forecast (for once) and got in the car – along with my dog Karma. The plan was to carry the skis up to the snow and have a nice ski-trip on the upper part of the mountain.

Today’s route from Tjørvåg

I drove through a tunnel just one kilometer from home and on the other side, it was NOT raining. And this is not the first time I’ve seen this. We do indeed have local weather on the coastline. Arriving at the trailhead, it seemed clear that I would have to carry the skis for quite a while…

Not exactly terrain for skiing…

After 2km of walking – just beneath Nonshornet, there was finally enough snow.

Yes!

From this point on, it was really, really windy. Today was a big weather day, offering sunshine, pouring rain, strong wind, no wind, fog, etc. I could even see the dog lowering her head from time to time.

A windy day in the mountains

We reached the top after 4,6km, 660 vertical meters and 1h:25m. During the ascent, I was listening to music through my ear plugs, but due to the wind, I hadn’t heard any music in 20 minutes. But it wasn’t a gale force wind. It was just noisy.

View from Sollia

Then it was time for the descent. It turned out to be a real challenge. On the icy parts of the snow, the skis were rocketing. On the parts with fresh, wet snow they came to a sudden halt. And due to the flat light, I didn’t see the difference. If someone had observered me from a distance, they must have thought I was drunk.

But we made it all the way down, safe and sound. Total distance was 9,6km and took 2h:10m. The total tally for the day (incl. Blåtind) was 15,8km and 1410 vertical meters. I wasn’t restless any longer and really looked forward to a quiet evening with a good meal and a beer. Or two..